Time for Three Press Release
Monday, May 1st, 2017

The Regina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) is excited to close the Shumiatcher Pops series on May 6, 2017 – 8PM at the Conexus Arts Centre with Time for Three! Time for Three – violinist Nicolas (Nick) Kendall, violinist Charles Yang, and double-bassist Ranaan Meyer – is a group that defies any traditional genre classification, happily and infectiously. With an uncommon mix of virtuosity and showmanship, the American trio performs music from Bach to Brahms, as well as their own arrangements of everything from bluegrass and folk tunes, to ingenious mash-ups of hits by the Beatles, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake and more! Saturday’s concert will begin with a Prelude Performance by Regina student group The Jammers at 7:15PM in the Conexus Arts Centre Theatre Lobby.

Time For Three: In 2014 Time for Three released their debut Universal Music Classics album, Time for Three, which spent seven consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Classical Crossover Chart. The ensemble has also embarked on a major tour commissioning programs to expand its unique repertoire for symphony orchestras including Concerto 4-3, written by Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon, Travels in Time for Three by Chris Brubeck in 2010, co-commissioned by the Boston Pops, the Youngstown Symphony and eight other orchestras, and Games and Challenges by William Bolcom, commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony. Their latest project, a three-year residency with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, includes commissions for three new works. Time for Three premiered the first of these works, Elevation: Paradise, in Sun Valley in August, 2015 and the second, Free Souls, in July, 2016.

To date, the group has performed hundreds of engagements, from sell-out concerts at the 2014 BBC Proms, Christoph Eschenbach’s birthday concert, residencies at the Kennedy Center, and TV performances include ABC’s ‘Dancing with The Stars’ and an Emmy-winning show “Time for Three in Concert” premiered by PBS.

Nicholas Kendall, Violin: Nicolas (Nick for short) Kendall connects people through music. He picked up his ﬁrst violin at the age of three. With an insatiable appetite for a diversity of expression, he went to the streets of Washington D.C. to play trash cans for lunch money as a teenager. By college, he was forming pick-up rock bands at Curtis Institute between concert debuts at the most prestigious halls in the world. Nick is one of our generation’s most persuasive champions of bringing new audiences to concert halls across America. Irreverent, funny, and relentless, Nick has become a force for bringing people together through music, on stage and off. His work is based on the simple idea that the energy you exude greatly impacts the relationships that you build. Nick’s leadership comes from a long personal history with collective action. Years ago, Nick gathered his friends to form a band whose direction comes from the power of the collective, now the critically acclaimed East Coast Chamber Orchestra. Trained in the Suzuki method, which his grandfather, John Kendall, brought to America in the 1960s, Nick continues the teaching tradition. As a caretaker of his craft, he is passing on the vitality of classical music to a new generation.

Charles Yang, Violin: Described by the Boston Globe as one who “plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star”, Juilliard graduate Charles Yang began his violin studies with his mother in Austin, Texas, and has since studied with world-renowned pedagogues Kurt Sassmanshaus, Paul Kantor, Brian Lewis and Glenn Dicterow. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras and in recitals in the United States, Europe, Brazil, Russia, China, and Taiwan, and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. On June 9th of 2005, the Mayor of Austin presented Mr. Yang with his own “Charles Yang Day”. Mr. Yang has been a frequent guest on the Emmy Award winning PBS show From the Top, and has also been heard on National Public Radio in Washington, DC and Boston.

Ranaan Meyer, Double Bass: Ranaan Meyer is a musical force that is quickly being recognized throughout the music world for his many projects, including his compositions and double bass work with the electrifying string trio, Time for Three. In addition to being a talented composer and double bass player, Meyer is also actively involved in education programs across the country, and is frequently called upon to solo with orchestras. As a composer and performer, Meyer has a rare versatility, and in addition to his classical work, he is an accomplished jazz musician, who has performed with the likes of Branford Marsalis, Jane Monheit, and many more. Mr. Meyer began studying music at the age of 4, soon graduating from piano to cello and then double bass. In 2003, Meyer graduated from the acclaimed Curtis Institute of Music. During his time at the Curtis Institute, Mr. Meyer began working with Zach DePue and Nick Kendall forming the string trio Time for Three. Their music, which proved to be a wildly popular mix of classical, country western, pop, gypsy and jazz, soon launched their careers as successful musicians, and they continue to collaborate, tour and record together releasing albums on the record label eOne.

Tickets are on sale now! Tickets for Saturday’s concert are available at reginasymphony.com or by calling the RSO Box Office from Monday to Friday between 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tickets will also be available at the door 1 hour prior to each concert. For more information regarding this concert, the upcoming season and or to purchase tickets, please visit reginasymphony.com or call the Box Office at 306-586-9555.